


Each Morning, The Joy

by tauri



Category: Atelier Meruru: アーランドの錬金術士 3 | The Apprentice of Arland, アトリエ | Atelier & Related Fandoms
Genre: Community: fandomweekly, F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-22
Updated: 2016-02-22
Packaged: 2018-05-22 16:11:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6086230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tauri/pseuds/tauri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every morning, Keina takes care of everything for Meruru.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Each Morning, The Joy

**Author's Note:**

> For challenge #003 at fandomweekly, 'Domestic Bliss'.

Keina's morning started hours before Meruru's awakening - sometimes even before the sunrise, depending on the season. The castle was full of workers and servants who dedicated their lives daily to the Arls royal family, but only Keina was the _personal assistant_ of Princess Merurulince Rede Arls. The larger jobs of cleaning the castle and feeding those that lived within it were not hers, but those around her grew quickly used to her presence.

Each morning, she would ensure that Meruru's clothes were clean and ready to wear, and that any outfits other than her usual attire were prepared for use at a moment's notice. Having selected them from Meruru's wardrobe, Keina would lay Meruru's undergarments, clothes, shoes and accessories out, ready and waiting for her on waking up.

Keina found Rufus somewhat intimidating, but she knew that his frosty exterior hid no malice or ill intent. She often recalled Meruru ranting during some past irritation, " _He's so awkward! He and Lias both!_ " Keina had taken those words, and thought about them at length. _Awkward_ seemed a good way to describe it. Was it bad to think of him that way? It wasn't a bad thing to be awkward, she supposed - _that's just how he is_. Regardless of that, he was the one person in the castle most knowledgeable on Meruru's daily schedule - Keina would go to him and ask if there was anything of importance coming up, anything that Meruru should keep in mind, anything that _Keina_ should keep in mind to remind Meruru of, when the time came. Sometimes there was, sometimes there wasn't. Keina would remember it all.

She would ensure that Meruru's immediate living quarters were clean and tended to - the majority of her work there would come later in the day, once Meruru was out of the castle and off adventuring, but Keina liked to build a mental list of her duties for that day ahead of time. Perhaps Meruru wouldn't notice the dust motes that floated through the bright morning sunbeams, but Keina did. It was easy to let dust build if you didn't keep on top of it - but Keina never gave it that chance. Meruru would never notice, but small things like that contributed towards the pride Keina felt towards her job.

The servants ate early, and Meruru woke late. As such, there was time between the morning commotion in the kitchens and Meruru waking up to prepare her breakfast. The kitchen workers would smile and pat Keina on the back, tell her she was doing a good job, that _Princess Meruru is lucky to have someone like you around to look after her!_ Keina would just smile and blush and thank them for their compliments - they always said those things, and she never quite knew how to react to them. To think of it as a 'job', as a 'duty'... she did it because it was expected of her, but she also did it because she enjoyed it. What better job could there be than to be beside Meruru? To have everything prepared and perfect in time for her each morning felt like the greatest blessing. To succeed in that sequence of events that Meruru was barely aware of - why should she be? For her to notice could only mean that there was something out of the ordinary. Keina considered it her private duty to keep Meruru's life progressing as smoothly as was possible.

The hardest part was keeping the balance between a warm breakfast and Meruru's awakening. Sometimes, Meruru would sleep in. Some days, she woke earlier than others. It was Keina's job to keep an eye on the sleeping princess, and to react accordingly. Sometimes, on the way between Meruru's bedroom and the kitchen, Keina would encounter Lias. " _If she wakes up to a cold breakfast, that's her own fault for sleeping in!_ " He'd give one of those half-smiles, and walk off. Keina sometimes wondered if that meant he thought she was working too hard, but supposed that she never really knew what Lias was thinking.

When Meruru finally awoke, the next part of the morning began. She would eat her breakfast in bed, always complimentary of Keina's cooking. Following that would come undressing Meruru of her nightclothes, taking her to bathe, making sure that she was washed and perfumed and ready to face the day. The morning would become noisier, at that point; perhaps Meruru would be excited for her day's plans, or perhaps she'd had a dream she felt that Keina had to hear of. Keina listened to everything while soaping Meruru's back, smiling and giving her opinion when such things were required.

"... Keina. Are you... happy?"

To anybody else, that question might have seemed like too little, too late. After a childhood spent together and an adolescence spent developing their world, others might have expected the reasoning behind that question to occur far earlier. Meruru seemed to worry about that, sometimes - between those who praised Keina for her hard work and those who thought she overworked herself, Meruru would sometimes appear troubled as to where the happy medium of that spectrum lay. 

To Keina, there was no other response but to answer in the affirmative. As the kingdom grew, she watched as Meruru discovered the joy of providing for her citizens, making Arls into a place that they were proud to live in - and that she could be proud of ruling. Even should the merger with Arland take place, Keina was sure that the people of Arls would never forget the work that their princess put into the kingdom for them. _As you're proud of them, so too am I proud of you...!_ To watch Meruru grow and take pride in herself and her country was as much a reward as Keina could hope for.


End file.
